International Charm Day Celebration

Technically, I missed spreading the joy of International Charm Day  oops!! However, Amber Dawn is continuing the charm love thru Sat with various giveaways on both her own blog and the International Charm Day blog. Visit both to see what kind of goodies you can win.  Amber is an amazing miniaturist polymer clay artist, Check out her flickr for photos of her realistic Lilliputian sized cupcake and sweets charms!

What are U up to today? Wednesday Post

My What are U Up To Today post isn't very interesting because I haven't been out of bed today.  I have been lying in bed since last night with a WHOPPER of a migraine.  I haven't had one this bad in quite a while, and hope never to have one like it again.  I'm finally able to sit upright,  had a little supper but can't do much because I get the spins.  At least I'm not in too much pain anymore. I hope to be very productive tomorrow to make up for the last couple of wks of slacking.

Also, I am still waiting to hear from one of my Industrial Chic winners - Carina, please contact me ASAP so I can send your booklet and charm to you!!!! If I don't hear from Carina by April 30th, I'll pick a runner up from entries on the original post.

Happy Easter, Industrial Chic Winners and Bead Bloggers!

Happy Easter everyone!!! Hope the Bunny was generous with candy for you all, I think he forgot to stop by here so I'll be doing some after holiday candy shopping tomorrow LOL

I have picked the three winners of the Industrial Chic book and charm giveaway. Using random.org the winners are..... Drum Roll Please.......

Malin de Koning
Carina
carlanda
Congrats Ladies!!! Email your mailing address to me ASAP so I can send you out your wonderful book and charms!!!

Thanks to everyone for entering too. And finally, some wonderful blog reading with this weeks Bead Bloggers!

• A Bead A Day Do you like glitter AND jewelry making?! You are going to love this project that Lisa found over at FusionBeads.com!
• About.com Jewelry Making What are your plans for your siver scraps now that silver is crazy expensive?
• Art Bead Scene Here's a fresh idea for spring - a garden gate clasp.
• Barbe Saint John Barbe's giving away the latest Industrial Chic booklet and some charms!
• Beading Arts As part of the Artbead challenge, "What's Old is New Again", Cyndi has constructed a flapper-style necklace from some very cool components!
• Carmi's Art/Life World This weeks blog features the poppies of Paris and the jewelery it inspires.
• Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork DivaCindy's made some new blush pink drops, come see what she's done with them!
• Earthenwood Studio ChroniclesWe all scream for Ice Cream! Melanie shows how she designed and made a new line of sweet pendants.
• Resin Crafts! This week Carmi has a short tutorial on using resin as a glaze.
• Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Rio Grande is encouraging a wonderful way of helping the people of Japan and it is SO EASY! Read about it on Jean's blog! Strands of Beads Melissa is brooding about issues of originality this week.
• The Bead Dreamer A lovely tree branch, soft pink flowers and wisps of silk inspired two necklace designs.
• The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Andrew takes a peak at Anne Choi's new BRONZE beads

Under the Weather Blues, Jewelry Make Overs and another Industrial Chic Giveaway

A couple of nights ago, I woke up what I thought was food poisoning but turns out to be some horrific stomach virus. No fun!  As luck would have it, I can NOT find any of my Chinese herbs for stomach ailments (Curing pills). I know I had a whole box when I moved, so where did I put them???  Anyway, feeling so awful all I can do is lay around and do alot of blog reading and websurfing. I'm in a nesting kind of mood now, so finding all kinds of design/apt make over on the cheap type blogs to read.

Before I got sick, I decided to re-work and "make over" some of my older jewelry pieces that haven't found homes yet.   A couple of the necklaces I need to find the "before" photos so I can show you.  They were onces I never put on the website but had made as inventory for the wholesale shows.    Here's one that I re worked that is currently on the website- Cabinet of Curiosities: #347.  This is the "Before" photo:

While it was "ok" it was a bit simplistic and didn't show off the pendant to its full potential.  After finding some fantastic beads in Tuscon, I decided this needed a make over.  This is the "After" photo.

I think it looks a lot more substantial and is better balanced now.  I couldn't get the lighting correct on this quickie photo and will do better when I take a new one for the website.  The large facetted beads are (I think some kind of dyed jasper) a gorgeous rust & green and match the pendant perfectly. 

Now for yet another great Industrial Chic giveaway.  My friend Kristen was also in the recent Jewelry Affaire magazine with an article on using Industrial Chic components. She is giving away one of the pieces seen in the latest Jewelry Affaire- Look at this gorgeous necklace! Go over to Kristen's blog to see how you can possibly win this lovely creation.

Be sure to RUN over to her blog because she is going to pick the winner tomorrow,  Monday the 18th.  And if you haven't entered my Industrial Chic Giveaway, there's still time. You can't win if you don't play as they say on the Lotto commercials!  Good luck!

Art Beads Mother's Day Giveaway and Lorilei Eurto 24 hour Giveaway!

Thank you all for entering my Industrial Chic Booklet and Charms Giveaway.  I love reading everyone's comments about why you love Industrial Chic and Susan!  Here's another sneak peak at one of the new pendants that will be available soon at your local Michaels store.

It's a tiny mixed media book and absolutely stunning.  It's a fabulous piece to add to a leather cord or long chain on its own or work into a statement necklace.

I wanted to let you all know about a couple more giveaways going on now.  The first contest is about to end so you need to RUN over and leave a comment. Lorilei Eurto is giving away four lovely handcrafted bezel pendants from Jade Scott on her blog but is only running the contest for 24 HOURS.    She posted the contest this morning at 8:14am and she will pick 1 random winner on Thursday at 8:14am. ( I assume EST). Hurry and go leave a comment.

The second is Mother’s Day Gift Card Giveaway from our friends at ArtBeads.Com.  The prize is a $100 Artbeads Gift Certificate! You can enter this giveaway just by leaving a comment on the Artbeads Blog for Beaders, telling them what your favorite Mother’s Day themed product is and what you would create with it. Hurry, this giveaway ends Friday, April 15 at 9am Pacific Time. The winner will be selected at random and announced on their blog.  For more information on this giveaway, please follow this link.

I think any Mom would be happy with anything that Artbeads.com has to offer. Personally, I love the Benedetta Canals, by Picasso pendant.

It's a handpainted rectangle Black Onyx pendant. I have one of the Mucha pendants and itsabsolutely even more gorgeous in person.  Check out all the pretty things that Artbeads.com has for your Mother's Day crafting!

All about Industrial Chic and a giveaway!!!!

I recently recieved an email from Jewelry Affaire and was told I had a piece in the Spring edition. Woo hoo-thats the kind of email I love getting, but truth be told I couldn't remember what I had sent in.   I just got the magazine in the mail and what an absolutely GORGEOUS edition. Every time I get one I think there is NO WAY they can top this issue, and every time I am happily proven wrong.  Anyway, as I'm looking through it, I see my "Swan Lake" necklace utilizing Susan Lenart Kazmer's Industrial Chic components was featured.

As a member of Susan's Creative Team, we get new pieces in advance to work with.  They are so amazing, its hard to not talk about them before they are available but we all bite our tongues and send excited emails to each other.    Well, good news my friends - I can happily announce Industrial Chic has a new line of charms and findings coming out on April 29th along with a new project booklet.

I'm really excited to announce all members of the Creative Team also have projects in this booklet along with Susan!!! Now we all get to show you how much we love and are inspired by Industrial Chic.   The new charms are so amazing too-I can give you a sneak peek at one set here:

Pardon my picture. The camera battery is charging so I had to use my scanner to do a quick photo.  I love love love this big organic copper with PINK and RED interior!  This is one of many of the new lovelies about to hit the stores VERY soon.
 You can begin looking for the new pieces nationwide in Michaels stores April 29th. You may need to call first to see if the new releases are in your local Michaels.

And now for the giveaway - I have 3 copies of the Industrial Chic booklet to give out to my readers. April 24th, I'll pick the lucky winners by a random number generator (random.org).    To make it even sweeter, I will include some Industrial Chic Charms along with the booklet for the 3 lucky winners.  This contest is open to all my readers world wide!

 For your chance to win just leave a comment  here why you love Industrial Chic products or why you love Susan (thats an easy one to answer!).  Post this giveaway on your blog, facebook or twitter for an extra shot at winning, just leave a seperate comment with the link to where you posted it.  Good Luck!

What are U up to today? Wednesday post and Flat Nose Pliers Review

OOPS! I had written up this post on Wed and though I had it scheduled to publish at 8pm. I was just looking at the blog and noticed it wasn't up so I checked. Silly me, I had it was scheduled for April 8. Need to make sure I check the date next time I schedule a post LOL.   I'm a couple of days behind, but since I'm still working on jewelry I figured it was still valid so here it is.

So what am I working on today????? I'm sitting at work table, with a big pot of decaf English Breakfast tea at the ready and working on getting some new things together to send to one of my fave boutiques.

I have seemed to have left my creativity and my muse back in San Francisco.......It has been so hard for me to feel creative and CREATE since moving here. Of course, the constant stress and struggles haven't helped and neither has the lack of storage/organization in my studio. However, as a single woman living alone and trying to eek out a living with her artwork I can't let it stop me. Excuses do NOT pay the bills so I have to make myself do the work I need to do.  

I also got some new pliers yesterday and wanted to let you all know about them.

Tool Review:   I can't find some tools since I moved, like my decent flat nose pliers. WHERE they went is anyone's guess, and why they weren't in the drawer with the other pliers is beyond me....also missing is my very expensive Lindstrom cutters I use just for sterling...urrrggghh!  anyway,  I got tired of using the cheapy flat nose ones I could find so I ordered a couple of pair from Monster Slayer.   Monster Slayer is my "never let me down" jewelry supply mail order company.  Their prices are excellent, they ship everything super quick and they have a wide selection of metals, tools and supplies. 

They have a number of flat nose pliers in various price points.  I chose these two pair because they were heavy duty and had longer handles. There are at the bottom of the pliers page.

They come in Narrow and Wide widths, so I got one of each to try them out.  For an inexpensive ( only $7.50) pair of pliers, they are really really nice quality. They have a good "weight" to them, and the foam handles are a plush as "Wubbers".   And I LOVE the handle length- almost 6 1/2" long.  I'm a Amazon and have proportionately larger hands than the average woman.    Using pliers with 4 inch handles are uncomfortable because dig into my palms as I'm working.  These are a dream to work with.  I am very very happy with them, and will order another pair soon.

If you are looking for some good flat nose pliers under $10 a pair, these are the ones to get. 

"Explore, Create, Resinate" by Jen Cushman Book Review

Explore, Create, Resinate: Mixed Media Techniques using ICE Resin by Jen Cushman

As promised, my long overdue book review of "Explore, Create, Resinate".  

 With "Explore, Create, Resinate" author Jen Cushman has created an "essential cookbook" for working with ICE Resin®, a jewelers grade 2 part epoxy resin.   In addition to being a mixed media artist and writer, Jen is currently the Director of Education and Marketing for ICE Resin®, Susan Lenart Kazmer. She's also the author of "Art Choses You", a new art marketing column for Belle Armoire Jewelry and a contributing editor for Create Mixed Media.

A lot of jewelry artists love resin but are hesitant to start working with it because they are afraid its too complicated.  "Explore, Create, Resinate" will help you successfully make gorgeous jewelry in no time.  In the book, Jen tells you about what makes ICE different from the other "craft" resins on the market, how to properly mix, pour, color and embed using ICE Resin®.  She also goes over how to deal with "mistakes" that can happen and how to fix them.  Also in the book are a number of gorgeous projects, lots of step out photos and clear instructions.

Each project has examples from the ICE Resin®, Susan Lenart Kazmer Design Team, (Kecia Deveney, Deryn Mentock, Kristen Robinson, Jane Salley and me!).  These extra photos show you what you can do with ICE and inspire you to have fun with resin.

If you can't take a class with a certified ICE Resin® instructor, this book will help you work successfully with resin at home.  This book is a great book for anyone who is curious about working with ICE Resin®. as well as those who are looking for extra guidance and inspiration with their resin work.  I have worked with many epoxy resins, and ICE is the only one that has not yellowed, turned soft or brittle over the years.     You can order Explore, Create, Resinate: Mixed Media Techniques using ICE Resin the ICE Resin® website.